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A decade-old agreement allowing Collier County deputies to help the federal government fight illegal immigration should be rescinded because it does the exact opposite of what it’s intended to do, speakers said at a community meeting Tuesday night.

Speaker after speaker said the agreement, authorized by a section of federal law known commonly as 287(g), makes the county less safe rather than safer. It also promotes racial profiling and discrimination, they said.

Angela Cisneros speaks during a town hall discussion at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of ...more

Angela Cisneros speaks during a town hall discussion at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples church in Golden Gate Estates, Fla., on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. Collier County cooperation with federal immigration law enforcement was criticized by residents and speakers from the Florida ACLU, Collier NAACP, and Florida Immigrant Coalition.

Logan Newell/Special to the Naples Daily News

“We need to try very hard to get the sheriff to rethink this agreement,” said Tony Fisher, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples.

The meeting, attended by more than 50 people, was held at the congregation’s church in Golden Gate Estates.

The event focused on inspiring residents to voice their opposition when the law’s application in Collier County comes up at a meeting Monday, Dec. 11, before the county’s 287(g) agreement’s steering committee.

Collier Sheriff Kevin Rambosk, who leads the steering committee, took the brunt of most speakers’ ire.

“The sheriff says 287(g) keeps us safe,” said Angelos Cisneros, co-founder of Collier for Dreamers. “I say: Who does it keep safe? Who does it keep safe when a mother is separated from her children?”

The point made by many speakers was that the agreement fosters fear and distrust of law enforcement officers among immigrants and prevents them from reporting crimes or coming forward as witnesses to crimes.

“Many don’t call the police” because of 287(g), said Margarita Claro, a 27-year resident of the county. She said the agreement has “devastated” the immigrant community in the county by forcing people to leave in fear.

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Other speakers said the most common crimes cited by local law enforcement officers to question people about their immigrant status are petty traffic incidents. And they alleged those traffic stops were based not on actual violations but the color of drivers' skin.

Arrisa Karim, vice president of the American Muslim Democratic Caucus of Florida, said she was pulled over for not stopping at a stop sign where no stop sign existed. She said a law enforcement officer questioned her about a person he was looking for, someone who resembled her in skin color.

This flier was among some available at a town hall discussion at the Unitarian Universalist ...more

This flier was among some available at a town hall discussion at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples church in Golden Gate Estates, Fla., on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. Collier County cooperation with federal immigration law enforcement was criticized by residents and speakers from the Florida ACLU, Collier NAACP and the Florida Immigrant Coalition.

Logan Newell/Special to the Naples Daily News

“Our law enforcement are here to protect us, not to enforce immigration policy,” she said.

Speakers said Collier County is one of only four Florida jurisdictions that still has a cooperative agreement with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. All others have abandoned such agreements or never had them in the first place.

“It’s not fair,” said Fire Commissioner Steve Hemping, who attended the meeting but did not speak to the audience. “I think it gives our sheriff’s department and others an excuse to pull over people they wouldn’t necessarily pull over (otherwise) and then ask questions about their immigration status.”

Bryan Oliva-Infante from FGCU speaks during a town hall meeting at the Unitarian Universalist ...more

Bryan Oliva-Infante from FGCU speaks during a town hall meeting at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples church in Golden Gate Estates, Fla., on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. Collier County cooperation with federal immigration law enforcement was criticized by residents and speakers from the Florida ACLU, Collier NAACP, and Florida Immigrant Coalition.

Logan Newell/Special to the Naples Daily News

Speakers also said 287(g) costs the county money that should be paid by the federal government, since immigration is a federal responsibility.

“Helping the government find and deport people is not Collier County’s job,” Cisneros said.

She and others also said immigration law enforcement takes Collier deputies away from their local responsibilities, also making the county less safe.

A 15-year-old Naples High School student, who identified herself only as Jessica, said tearfully that 287(g) goes after law-abiding people who build county residents’ homes, put food on their tables, feed them in restaurants and clean their houses.

“But they’re not safe,” she said.

They live in fear and she, though born in Naples, is under constant stress that her parents might be taken away one day, she said.

“The whole purpose of this agreement has been abused,” she said. “It has to be stopped.”

A man dressed as President Donald Trump looks in while people gather for a town hall discussion ...more

A man dressed as President Donald Trump looks in while people gather for a town hall discussion about immigration law enforcement at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples church in Golden Gate Estates, Fla., on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017.